Opoczno, 16 January 1927
To my dearest and most devoted brother, as well as nephew, and
niece,
I received your dear letter of December 16 yesterday under the
following circumstances. The day before yesterday, I was at a
marketplace 28 kilometers from Opoczno and my cousin, Moshe
Zilberspitz, was also there. Going home, we rode together on
the same wagon, so that we engaged in a conversation about you,
about your childhood, about your separation from us, about your
letters, about the love and devotion which you demonstrate to
us, and so on. You can picture, dear brother, that the entire
five hours that we rode we spoke only of you, and the
conversation was so sweet and pleasant. Unaware of the bad
weather, I didn't notice that the entire 28 kilometers had flown
by and that I was once again in Opoczno.
Crossing the threshhold, everyone ran toward me with a happy
cry, "A letter from Shloyme and also a $10 check." Concerning
the check, later. I am not capable of conveying on paper how
much joy your writing evokes in us. Your writing, your manner
of expressing yourself, your fidelity to, and love for, us no
one in the world is capable of putting a value on, except for
me, my sister and brother-in-law. We carefully and clearly
reflect upon your letters, and we see in you not only a sister's
son, a youngster, but a mensch with all of his powers of
understanding, who is worthy of being referred to with the
appellation of mensch. Yes, devoted Sol, I am not able to find
any expression or any words to respond to your devoted writing
to us with which you seek to cheer the wounded hearts of your
uncle and aunt.
We sit now, the three of us, by the table, I, Uncle Lazer, and
Aunt Estherl. My sister says, "Would that I were able to compose
such a letter; you would see all that I would write about."
Uncle Lazer says that, with your intelligence, you understand in
Chicago everything that's happening in Opoczno. For example,
you understand what Aunt Malke thinks of me... And I, dear
brother Sol, sit and think to myself about what to write, how to
answer such a generous and devoted brother.
I am a bit nervous, deeply involved with business matters.
However, I would really like to get everything else off my mind.
I concentrate on my memories, and I recall that, in fact, this
Saturday it will be 18 years since I was called to the Torah
before my marriage. And I see you before my eyes as you, in
fact, on that same Sabbath began the study of the Five Books of
Moses. Yes, Sol, eighteen years, eighteen sorrowful years have
disappeared since then. I have lost half of my life during
these eighteen years, and yet that Sabbath is engraved in my
memory. I attempt to close my eyes, and then I see you and your
friends, the Hebrew teacher, parents, family and friends.
Everyone, everyone, surrounded you. Everyone came to hear and
see your friend bless you. At the time, I thought to myself,
"We are planting a new young tree now. May G-d grant that this
tree may mature with healthy roots, with strong branches and
with sweet fruit."
And, thank G-d, after eighteen years I see the tree matured,
developed, fruitful. Although I am far from the tree, still its
aroma reaches me. I pray to G-d, the Almighty Creator, that
your roots become so strong that no wind or storm be capable,
chas v'cholilah, of affecting you.
As to your writing that you would be happy to see us again, with
G-d's help everything in the world is possible, particularly
with you Americans. I believe and am convinced, dear Sol, that
if only you have the opportunity, you will surely not be
restrained and you will come to Europe, to the land of your
birth. The day of your arrival will be a national holiday for
us. For the time being, we can only dream about it. Aunt
Estherl has already accelerated the time of your coming and,
early this morning, she awoke from a sweet dream in which she
dreamt that you arrived with your dear Esther and that you
danced so strenuously that the slats of the bed danced along
with you...
As to your having become a citizen, so I congratulate you. I
know that, in America, it's a big thing to become a citizen;
it's not Poland or Romania.
As to your purchase of a building, I wish you a lot of luck.
May you move in safely and live there in good health with your
dear and devoted wife. And when you have the store in order,
everything put in place, then remember to send us a picture of
the building and of you and your wife and, if possible, of your
sisters.
Now, as to the wedding of your sister, Bryndl. Dear Sol, I note
in your writing that you are not wholly in agreement with
Bryndl... But what can we do? We recognize many things as
crooked that straighten themselves out and, contrariwise,
straight things which become crooked... Even though Bryndl
didn't send me a wedding invitation, knowing in advance that I
wouldn't be able to come to the wedding because of the quota,
nevertheless we wish her good fortune. If she would be kind
enough to send us a picture of herself and her groom, we would
consider ourselves highly fortunate. I also ask you to write
how Ruchele is feeling and how she makes a living!
Further, dear and devoted Sol, as to your not fully
understanding my letter with the two enclosed cards, you found
it necessary to send along a check for $10. So, devoted Sol, I
say to you that with this you have backed me up against the
wall. First, I didn't demand and didn't ask for anything.
Second, every time that I am under pressure and feel coerced, I
want to unburden myself to someone to whom I feel close. And
whom do I have here? To whom can I pour out my heart? I search
around so long until I find you, my closest and best friend, to
whom I always unburden myself. And I seem to feel eased.
When I received the two cards from home, I was up to my neck in
aggravation from the business, from the loss, and so on. And
knowing that, as a husband and father, I had more or less
fulfilled my responsibility, or perhaps not, how can Uncle
Emanuel help...?
Only to sell one's last pillow if it were necessary, chas
v'cholilah, and not to stir up uncles
and aunts; it's good to have such people at ritual
circumcisions, at weddings, at engagement ceremonies. But
what's the use? My wife's nature won't be altered. I really
feel sorry for her having such an unlucky bungler for a husband.
However, what's the use of trying to arrive at an understanding
with her now as to those things that I haven't been able to
arrive at an understanding on for the whole eighteen years...
I wasn't out to squeeze any money from you with my writing, dear
Sol, rather I was just getting it out of my system to my best
and closest friend and brother. I wanted to send the check back
to you, not because I have already become a wealthy man, chas
v'cholilah, but simply because I want to work with all my
strength and to win for myself a small piece of existence. On
the other hand, it's very nice for you to have sent money for
the business; at the same time, you want to satisfy your Aunt
Malke...but can she be completely satisfied???
Well, dear Sol, I've had a good chat with you in this letter,
and I believe that you will consider my writing carefully and
understand it well. You are familiar with my plans. Until
February 1, I don't know what sort of world I am in. The
chances are 99 out of 100 that I will remain here for another
year. Aunt Malke does not want to move here. She remains
satisfied to be in Lodz while I am in Opoczno. I will write
more about this. I can write that, for the time being, one can
make a half-way decent living here. Although it's not great,
it's so-so. The reason that I send so little home is quite
simple.; I want to remain an honest man. I want to repay
everything that I borrowed and that I obligated myself for. I
am acquiring a good reputation here thanks to my promptness and
thanks to the help of my sister and brother-in-law. I have
totally devoted myself to the business and work with all my
strength so that the business will be able to continue to exist.
Later, if I have accomplished something with my work, I will
then begin to think about family matters.
So, regards and kisses from your loving and devoted uncle.
Regards and kisses from your Aunt Estherl, Uncle Lazer, Aunt
Malke and cousins.
With respect,
Wolf Lewkowicz
Heartfelt regards for your dear wife, Esther, for your dear
in-laws, father, sisters, family, uncles, et al.
All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.